LibriVox recording of The Scarlet Plague, by Jack London. Read by James Christopher.

Known mainly for his tales of adventure, this work of science fiction by
Jack London is set in a post-apocalyptic future.

It's 2072, sixty years after the scarlet plague has depopulated the planet.
James Howard Smith is one of the few survivors of the pre-plague era left
alive in the San Francisco area, and as he realizes his time grows short,
he tries to impart the value of knowledge and wisdom to his grandsons.
Through his narrative, we learn how the plague spread throughout the world
and of the struggles of the handful of survivors it left in its wake.

The Scarlet Plague was originally published in London Magazine in 1912.

(Summary by Wikipedia and James Christopher)

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M4B audiobook of complete book


This audio is part of the collection: The LibriVox Free Audiobook Collection
It also belongs to collections: Audio Books & Poetry; Community Audio

Artist/Composer: Jack London
Date: 2009-07-24
Source: Librivox recording of a public-domain text
Keywords: librivox; literature; audiobook; adventure; science fiction; post-apocalyptic; plague

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

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Reviewer: mikezane - - October 11, 2010
Subject: How sad!
This is a book that left me needing a good dose of Wodehouse when I was done.

This is the story of the fall of the human race to a plague known as the Scarlet Plague, and the life that arises from those that survived. It is sad, unbelievably depressing, and unlike other stories, there is nothing at the end that leaves you with a feeling of hope, only despair. Eat chocolate when you are done.

The reader was excellent, and the recordings were great. The story was just too sad for my liking.

Reviewer: Pyrodin123321 - - June 24, 2010
Subject: Very Dystopic, 5 stars!
I love dystopic survival stories, 5 stars from me. If you did not get much enjoyment from grandpa's war stories as a kid, I can see where you might feel there is a lack of action, but I loved it.

Reviewer: Arch Stanton - - March 28, 2010
Subject: Post Catastrophe runs shallow
Minor London. In this post-catastrophe novel, a one time professor looks back on the years of world wide plague, which started in 2013 and relates his history to the present day. London's treatment of events is at its best when describing the arrival of the disease and the immediate aftermath. Some prescience here as regards to the emergence of world wide epidemic and the modern spread of deadly viruses. Elsewhere it's less convincing and the relationships between characters are thinly sketched out, indicating a lack of overall conviction or perhaps a commercial imperative for the writing. Interestingly, given his politics, London does not see the collapse into barbarism as necessitating a call to socialism, though there is some cruel levelling. The reader is generally good, although his cadences can be monotonous.